Wednesday, October 26, 2011

A smarter way to stop drunk driving

Copyranter just featured this NZ anti drunk driving spot, and I'm reblogging it because I really love it:

Here are all the things it gets right:

It accepts that teens like to get drunk

It recognizes the social pressure not to take a stand

It's funny and culturally relevant

The language, characters and setting realistic

Here are things it didn't do:

Guilt

Preach

Shock

Tell youth not to drink

Through my work with the Traffic Injury Research Foundation I've come to understand that positive reinforcement is the only way to really get through to anyone. To completely denormalize drunk driving, you've got to normalize the culture of refusing to participate in it.

This isn't the first time New Zealand has taken a more progressive approach to encouraging responsibility. The "4 Mates" series, aimed at men, also showed that being a designated driver for your drunken friends sucks, but is sometimes necessary.